1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for teeing golf balls and more particularly to an apparatus for storing, dispensing and teeing golf balls without requiring the golfer to bend over or alter his stance each time a golf ball is to be placed on a tee.
2. Prior Art
The concept of providing an apparatus for storing, dispensing and teeing a golf ball is old in the art. There are numerous prior patents which disclose such devices including the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,285,342 to MacLellan PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,237 to Willcox PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,662 to Hodgin PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,558 to Hoffman PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,232 to Stone PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,668 to Ose PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,204 to Karr PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,446 to Eberle PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,092 to Watson PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,397 to Hoffmeister
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,446 to Eberle is directed to a golf ball dispenser having a trough pivotally mounted for dispensing golf balls to the golf ball tee. A feed tube receives balls through cup portion from a hopper. The feed tube is in the form of an open upper-sided trough having a closed rear end. A dispensing aperture provided at the end of the trough is coupled to a dispensing head which provides the release mechanism for a ball to be placed on a tee. The trough swings about a vertical axis. Further, the reference system requires the golfer to swing the feed tube into position and then operate the dispensing head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,668 to Ose is directed to a cylindrical golf ball pick-up device and dispenser. The pick-up cylinder provides the hopper for storage of balls to be dispensed. The cylinder includes a folding leg which provides an angle of inclination with respect to the ground to dispose the balls toward a charging end. From the cylinder, the balls roll to a receiving hole from which they may be ejected by a ball pushing member operated by a push down member. When the balls are pushed out of the receiving hole, they follow a conduit to the cup-shaped tee integrally connected to the conduit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,232 to Stone is directed to an automatic golf ball teeing apparatus wherein golf balls are diverted to a golf ball tee by a ball conveying arm which is pivotally mounted relative to the ball hopper. The movable arm receives balls from a conduit for delivery to a tee, one at a time. The outer end of the conduit includes an opening for delivery of the golf ball to the tee, while the other end includes an opening through which a ball is received from the conduit. The operation of the pivoted arm is initiated by electrical contacts which are operated by the ball being driven from the tee, thus replacing the driven ball with a new ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,662 to Hodgin is directed to an automatic golf ball teeing device wherein a golf ball is delivered to a tee by a rotatable member, rotatable about a horizontal axis. The rotatable transfer arm includes a counterweight on one end and a ball receiving cup on the opposing end. Thus, when the transfer arm receives a ball into ball receiving cup, the transfer arm rotates to dispense the ball to the tee, subsequently returning it to the upright position.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,237 to Willcox is directed to a golf ball dispensing apparatus wherein a rotatable trough arm delivers balls to a tee. The trough arm includes a hole through which the tee will pass, thus permitting the trough to deliver the ball to the tee, which will be located within the aperture when the arm is in the dispensing position. The dispensing arm is electrically operated by a switch located in the golf ball tee assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,204 to Karr is directed to a golf ball storage and feeder device which, although an electrical drive and employs a gravity feed and horizontal axis arm.
Unfortunately all of the aforementioned prior art suffers from one ore more disadvantages. By way of example, some of the prior art teeing devices require the use of electrical components which increase the complexity and cost. Other such devices, although requiring only mechanical components, are so complex in their ball control mechanisms and overall structure as to be commercially infeasible. None of the prior art known to the applicant provides for a storage container having the capacity for storing a fixed number of golf balls and adapted to fit onto the dispenser apparatus directly without any transfer of balls from one container to another. The most relevant prior art appears to be U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,558 to Hoffman. While the Hoffman apparatus does not suffer the disadvantage of the complexity of the majority of the remaining prior art, this prior art device requires that the golfer perform two separate mechanical maneuvers to dispense the ball onto the tee. More specifically, the Hoffman apparatus requires the golfer to pull a delivery arm into alignment with the tee and then depress a lever to release the ball. This requirement for performing two distinct operations to tee up a ball increases the time and inconvenience of the device thereby conflicting with its intended advantage which is to save time and reduce the number of steps required to place the ball on the tee. Furthermore, the Hoffman apparatus does not provide any form of storage device for holding a predetermined number of balls and for placing such a device onto the apparatus, but would instead require the transfer of balls from any form of storage into a hopper positioned on the apparatus.